The present invention is related to a high-speed system for connecting two PC modems directly over telephone wires, without the use of the telephone network, and more particularly, the ability to provide plurality of such connections to an outside provider of computational services, through a shared central line.
Currently, certain types of PC modems can be directly connected to each other via a telephone wire, but without the provision of telephone network services. These modems implement a direct connection over "dry copper". Such direct connections are possible with modems which follow the V.34 specification. However, such modems are limited to a maximum speed of 33.6 Kb/second "full duplex", or in both directions simultaneously. Currently available modems can reach a maximum speed of 56 Kb/second on the downstream direction (i.e. from the server to the user), but follow the new and developing V.90 specification, that is being set by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). These new modems achieve the increased speed by leveraging on the digitally upgraded telephony network. These modems cannot be directly connected to each other at the full 56 Kb/second speed, without the intervention of some of the services provided by the regular digital telephony network. In the absence of the digital telephony network, directly connected modems following the V.90 specification can only achieve the maximum rate of 33.6 Kb/second. Thus, these modems are not able to take full advantage of the available capacity when directly connected.
Such direct connections can be particularly useful to avoid the purchase of telephone network services when connecting to the Internet. The worldwide network of computers known as the "Internet", has recently seen explosive growth, as many more computer users have chosen to become connected to this network. Most private computer users connect to the Internet from their homes through a PC (Personal Computer) which is equipped with a PC modem. The modem is typically connected to the existing telephone network, which is in turn connected to the modem of the Internet Service Provider (ISP). The user must pay for the services of the telephone network to connect to the Internet.
A significant cost reduction could be realized if the PC modem of the private user could be connected to the ISP over "dry copper "and without the purchase of telephone network services. Unfortunately, if modems following the V.90 specification are used, such a direct connection is not possible without sacrificing speed.
There is therefore a need for, and it would be useful to have, a system for connecting two modems, without the services of the telephony network, particularly for the purpose of providing a connection to the Internet, while maintaining the full speed of the modems, such that even two modems following the V.90 specification can be directly connected over "dry copper " while maintaining a substantially maximum speed of communication.